Birds of a Feather
by Indy DeLarge
Summary: In an ocassion fallen from the sky, as a bless or a curse, K' and Leona train together just to later find themselves tied in each other's company.


**Birds of a Feather**

* * *

If she was walking or fighting didn't matter, Leona's moves were concise and robotic. Even so, if you stared just enough you'd see her dancing, not in a very ethereal ballerina-like way but still…perfect, with every piece of the puzzle falling into place.

And just in the same way a dancer smiles through the ache of their burning legs, this fighter stared stoic at her opponent through the pain of the hits marking her black and blue. We may as well said that she was also standing through wounds caused by violent fire, and not anyone's.

K' and Leona weren't friends. But Whip used to say it was more credible to say they were siblings because of how similarly bleak they both were.

With time Seirah had become the bridge between the mercenaries and the NESTS outlaws, to the point that the soldiers in the base got used to seeing the white haired boy, the little girl and the cyborg around. Especially today, because today was Whip's birthday and Ralf had organized a party (despite Whip's complaints) in King's bar Illusion. Whatever way it was, K' didn't care as long as he could spend more time with his sister.

But that wasn't the case right now…

Leona felt the grip on her throat and the kiss of the glove's burning leather on her skin, which made her gasp impulsively for air but just managed to get her breathless. K' looked at her through his sun glasses and the cool of the mercenary caught him off guard.

"I bet you thought this was kid's play compared to fighting in a battlefield" he laughed in his head. The young man was holding her in the air but she was calm and relaxed like a piece of silk.

He threw the blue haired girl to the ground and watched her slowly gasp for oxygen with those blue eyes still expressionless.

"Tch, this is fucking boring, I don't know why Maxima insists with this sparring bullshit. You're weak."

Without glancing back K' turned on his feet and started to walk away, deep inside feeling like shit for going too hard on that weird girl.

The KOF tournament was close and his mechanic friend had insisted him to start training. "You won't be fighting me or Kula in the arena. It'll be different, you're not used to their techniques". The white haired boy hated KOF, but he still showed up every single time. Even though he would never said it out loud he knew why he came back…for whom. He always felt the need to prove it, to nobody else but himself, that he wasn't just a Kyo Kusanagi failed extension.

Despite this, at nights he couldn't help but wonder if he will ever be able to surpass his imposed fate of being 'the second Kusanagi flame'. Always the second one, never the strongest.

"You should benefit from some sparring with those mercenaries…they're tough" had said Maxima.

"They're not" hissed K' to himself while he turned around to leave.

Leona saw the boy walking away and stood to her feet, with red marks on her neck and sweat on her forehead. She would not lose, not like this.

"The fight is not over" she saix monotonous.

K' turned and saw her back in her fighting stance, clearly injured but her body somehow unaware of this. This was pissing him off, he just wanted to end the fight.

"You're quite egocentric for a guy that runs away from battle" she spat. She was... teasing him.

"So you can talk" he accomodated his glasses with disdain.

He disliked hitting girls, maybe that was why he hated seeing Kula participate in KOF. Every time he saw her take a hit he experienced a small heart attack, and that was why he always chose to fight before her in 3 versus 3 battles. That way he and Maxima could take out as many opponents as possible so she wouldn't have to get in the ring. He always felt uneasy fighting women even though he knew they could handle it…but he also hated being tested.

He glanced at her, she was waiting defiantly.

_"Fucking hell"._

"I will burn you alive!" said K' as he charged with full force with his elbow into her stomach. The attack knocked the breath out of her but she managed to jump away from him dodging his high kick.

"Your hand to hand combat is pretty slow" she said, thinking of how helpful his pyrokinesis was in battle and asking herself how he would fight without it.

"Shut up already!" he yelled as he kicked a fire projectile.

Leona rolled quickly to a side dodging the attack but before she could regain herself he was in front of her. _"Let's get this over with" _he thought irritated.

He performed an Ein Trigger, a regular move in his technique and his usual killer blow whenever he got tired of a fight. He waved his hand back and then forward shooting fire into her chest and before she could assimilate the hit he kicked upward leading a fire beam with his leg that send her flying. K' grabbed her in the air.

He was gripping her throat again, but he didn't want to hurt her anymore so he let out a little fire to maker her feel the hotness in her neck, still not enough to burn her flesh. It was a warning…and he knew she knew.

"What's the matter? You're not talking much now, are you?" K' hissed.

He studied her face, and saw her blue eyes once again, those dead eyes were challenging him to keep going. Suddenly he felt exposed despite the glasses hiding his eyes. This made him angry and the fire in his grip started to increase. He was surprised when he felt her neck tighten, she was talking to him and even though she whispered the words like a secret they felt like a million needles cutting through his ego.

"An…imitator's fire…doesn't…burn…" she said with her blue eyes drilling K's emotional shell.

That had been the final drop of the glass, and a hit way too low to ignore. The man pressed his lips hard while he squeezed her neck like an orange and released the fire. In his rage he could perceive her moving through the flames and grabbing his arm, this woke him up from his anger. And despite of how insufferable she had been he didn't burn her…he stopped, and slowly loose the pressing in his grip.

He glanced at the girl and noticed surprise in her face.

"What? Do you think I'm so childish as to be bothered by a hypocrite like you? You should be the one worrying about being in control" he snarled referring to Leona's Orochi blood.

At that moment he thought it was fair, she had brought up a taboo topic which gave him the right to return the favor. He let go of her, making her fall against the floor as she caught her breath again.

"This was so stupid". He was really angry, he could have been taking a nap instead of this shit. But he was also puzzled. _"What's the matter with her?"_ he thought.He had seen her fighting before, he even fought her several times on past tournaments but the ferocity and fastness he was used to was not present this time, being replaced instead by annoying taunts. _"Was she holding back?"_ K' wasn't sure, maybe she just was tired…or maybe he had gotten better, but he was certain that he didn't see her hair turn red not even once in this fight.

He regained his composure and adjusted his glasses while he glanced at her...but what he saw there shocked him. She was still kneeling in the floor breathing heavily but she was…smiling? It wouldn't have bothered him if it was a defeated type of smile but this one was amused, almost terrifying.

"What the fuck is wrong with…" before he could finish the sentence he felt the coldness dripping off his glove and saw the drops on his leather jacket. He touched the liquid with his nude fingers.

_"Water…?"_

The man looked back at Leona, but the smile was gone. Slowly she stood up and looked at him, with something like excitement hiding in her eyes.

_"Did she just…?" _There was no way that it was possible, how could she have done it? He looked at her hands…they seemed wet, and there were drops falling of her fingers as well. He had stopped the fire right? …or did she stopped him herself before he did?

"I would be thankful if you kept this a secret for now, but either way you're free to do what you want" and with this words she turned on her heels leaving K' speechless and confused.

* * *

It was a particularly alluring night to be out, but it made sense, it was Seirah's special day after all. Leona was always amazed at how she managed to keep everything outside her from crumbling down despite the scars of her past, she dreamed of reaching that point of peace sometimes, but it always seemed so far away.

She was unsure about how to dress for the party at King's bar, in fact the situation was petrifying for her and she wouldn't have went along with it if it weren't for Whip's sake. Her plan was to go with her blue skirt and blazer uniform that she keeps for special occasions until Seirah stepped in horrified and borrowed her a dress. Leona didn't put much thought into it and accepted the help… but now that she was walking between people she could feel their beady eyes on the back of her neck, staring…and it felt horrible. It was a simple green dress, nothing flashy and still, she couldn't help but feel paranoid.

The party was cheerful and some familiar faces showed up, Leona saw Yuri, Mai, Ryo and some others.

_"I should've expected this, its King's bar after all"_ she said to herself.

The girl talked with her mercenary friends until after a couple of hours Clark left carrying Ralf, whom had passed out because of drinking too much. Leona laughed in her mind used to that particular scenario, she could already hear Whip taunting the Coronel for his low tolerance to alcohol. She watched them leave and looked towards the balcony, the moon was shining at its highest point giving a stunning view to admire. From a corner of the room she searched for Whip with her eyes till she spotted her at the bar, the brunette girl was talking cheerfully with Kula, Athena and King. Leona watched them as they laughed holding their cups up making a toast, and deep inside the usual bittersweet feeling visited her again and started to squirm her insides.

_"I wonder if I'll ever be able to taste such happiness" _she thought with a pure feeling of incertitude. She looked around, the bar was full like every other night, the jazz band was energetic even though Leona thought that the singer was wearing to much makeup, to the point that it started to melt with the hotness of the room making her look like a picture of the Rorschach test. She examined the place, people everywhere saying so many words and at the same time saying nothing. People making small talk about things they didn't even care about. People trying to get laid. A cluster of con-artists.

Leona walked towards the balcony, she couldn't stand the acid jazz songs and the happy chattering anymore, she just didn't fit…she never would. In moments like that she wished she could be like those people. It was the truth: ignorance is bliss

When she got out a warm breeze caressed her face and her bangs tickled her neck, she would never get used to wearing her hair loose."I should cut it",she just wanted to disappear… at least she wasn't inside that social turmoil anymore.

She got close to the edge of the large balcony and relied herself in the handrail, from there she could see the city in all its illuminated magnificence. She looked down and saw the avenue and the blurry speeding cars passing by. She wondered what sound her body would make if it hit the concrete from this high.

A move at her side broke her trance, and she glanced at her left. In the other side of the balcony was K' drinking from his glass.

For him the party had been fucking boring, and Maxima had taken the task of taking care of Kula so she wouldn't drink or do anything reckless. K' was pretty much left alone so he decided to take some fresh air. He had been there for a long time before Leona came, secretly hoping that she didn't notice his presence. She looked at him, making eye contact for some seconds before he hide inside his glass.

"Fuck, that's the last thing I needed. I should've brought my fucking sunglasses".

At first he didn't notice it was her, how could he? She was wearing a dress and had her hair loose, that sight made him…uncomfortable. The boy stared at the lighting buildings and pretended he didn't see her, but the curiosity was eating him alive. At least the good thing if he asked is that she wasn't the kind of person that extended the conversation with small talk. He hated that. At least talking with a freak was better than talking with an idiot.

"Since when do you control water?" he said with a deadpan voice still looking at the city.

"Since today, at least effectively" she said replicating his tone "Why did you decide to train with me?" Leona preferred to leave her found powers out of the conversation.

He was already irritated.

"Maxima forced me into it, he thinks I should train since there's a new tournament close…however, my lack of training didn't prevent me from sweeping the floor with your face" he said grabbing his glass so hard that his knuckles turned white.

K' spoke with the calm of a monk even though his insides were bubbling with resentment because of today's words. Leona looked at him but he didn't look back.

The girl supposed he was still…bereaved from the exchange during the fight. She knew because she was the same, particularly sensible and really good at hiding it, but you can't cheat a liar in her own game. She had a special clinic eye that noticed the effect her words had had in him. At the moment that K' brought up her Orochi blood she realized she had strike a nerve, and now she couldn't help but feel remorse.

The blue haired girl took a deep breath and tried to make amends.

"My dad used to be a Hakkeshu. He controlled water" she said noticing it was a night of full moon.

K' looked at her reaching an epiphany. He never really had any interest in Orochi and its past, his enemy relied somewhere else, instead of an evil entity it was an illegal organization of bio technology. But he had heard some stories from Maxima, his friend researched the background of every person they came across and especially if it was in battle. K' knew that 'Hakkeshu' was the name for the followers of Orochi and that some of the strongest controlled exceptional spiritual powers, including nature elements, but he was unaware that this powers were pass on to their children. According to the legend, the different powers reincarnated in random individuals around the world.

"Well, you still sucked today…" said K' under his breath remembering how he beat the shit out of her earlier, but she was too far to have listened it. _"Would she be able to do it now if she wanted?"_

"Can you do it?"

The man was especially talkative that night for someone like him. All those whiskey shots were probably making effect. Leona doubted for a second and looked around, until she walked towards him.

"May I?" She said pointing his drink.

"Whatever" he answered looking away.

She took the glass and put her right hand above it making circular movements. K' stared attentively in distrust but nothing happened. He let out a mocking sigh but before he could say anything a small tread of water started rising from the glass in circular motions. He watched how the water separated itself from the alcohol leaded by her fingers, it looked like some sort of worm. After some seconds the tread disintegrated into the drink again and Leona gave him back the glass.

"Tch, I don't want to drink it now, couldn't have you just done what you did today?" he said sulking at the vessel.

"I haven't dominated it completely. I don't know how to extract it from the air, and I still have difficulties with creating it, so I need a source of liquid to manipulate it effectively."

Leona didn't know why she was talking about it, especially why with K' of all people. Maybe those cups of wine she drank earlier were giving her tongue some freedom she thought. It wasn't like the boy was going to tell anyone anyway. He acted like a jerk, that much was right but he also seemed discrete…besides, she still needed a sparring partner and the fact that the white haired boy knew how to handle fire made him the perfect punching bag and motivator for her to learn how to use her water powers. Of course she could have ask Kyo the favor, he was in good terms with Heidern and Chizuru would have gladly set them up, but he was too cocky and talkative for her…and he wasn't that good of a fighter. The other possible choice was Yagami, but their fight would have certainly be led by a sense of hatred rather than cooperation, to Leona Iori was the incarnation of everything she hated about herself and what she didn't want to become. Whip's brother in the other hand, was pretty much like her even though she would never admit it. With him everything was easy, not uncomfortable and tedious like her interactions with most people were, he was direct and cutting…just like her.

"A source of liquid? From where did you get the water earlier today then?" said K' with nuisance in his voice.

"It was an extreme situation, you were about to burn my throat. I guess my survival instinct activated my powers" she said with her head up and a bored tone.

Now it all made sense for him. That cocky attitude. The mind games. That 'an imitator's fire doesn't burn'.

"Today in the sparring, you were looking for me to burn you"_"_

_"__In order to use your powers you used me"_

"You wanted me to push you close enough to the edge. So you could finally activate it."

"Yes, it worked. Thanks" she said stiff but with genuine gratitude.

Leona wanted to ask for help, but her shyness made it hard and the idea wasn't exactly alluring for her either. She had spent her whole life being helped by the people around her: Heidern, Clark, Ralf… but if it hadn't been for K' she would probably still be practicing alone in her room with a glass of water without obtaining any results.

She kept silence as they both stared at the neon lights of the city, the jazz music sounding far away. K' had an empty look and his mouth contracted in disgust. He felt like a test tube, humiliated. She had manipulated him to get what she wanted.

"I'm sorry" she said staring at her shoes "I don't actually believe what I said today."

"Doesn't matter" he answered although in his insides he felt relief.

It wasn't that the mercenary's opinion weighed anything to him, but that a stranger's validation was something he enjoyed (with guilt), and knowing that at least one person didn't see him like a surplus of Kusanagani's DNA was somehow counseling.

From the Avenue they could hear the voices of passersby and the speeding cars. A breeze of fresh air washed them both.

"It's a beautiful night" she said closing her eyes "it matches Seirah…"

The ghost of a smile appeared in K' face for a second before vanishing.

"Yeah, it does…not that it means anything anyway" answered K' obnoxious as if she had said a the Earth was flat "Her past birthday was fucking cold."

It was, Leona remembered it because Heidern had borrowed her his jacket when he saw she was trembling in spite of her attempts to hide it. But she also remembered that even though that day the evening was cold, the morning was sunny…unlike her special day.

"My birthday was rainy…" she said deadpanned mostly to herself. A prolonged silence filled the close distant between them.

"Then it suited you" answered the male voice like a razor blade._ "Fuck"_ K' cursed in his mind. He side-glanced at her trying to decipher her face but if she was feeling any emotion at all he didn't notice it. _"She truly is like a robot"_ he said to himself. Most of the times K' acted rude towards people intentionally, which was just his nature. But the joke of this porcupine effect was that the few times he wanted to be considerate he inevitably ended up being hurtful. He just wasn't used to be kind, perhaps because he knew that if he was the one that distanced himself from people he was one step ahead of people distancing from him. He tried to fix the situation.

"I don't know when my birthday is" said the boy pretending to be in composure in spite of the throbs of his violent heart. _"Are you really going to talk about this? Now? With her?" _he wanted to kick himself, he was certainly regretting drinking earlier.

Leona looked at him, and then his gauntlet with the NESTS brand still on the metal.

"Is there anything you remember before all of that happened?" Leona knew what he was talking about, her team had been heavily involved in the investigation of the syndicate NESTS. Through her revisions she had read some reports that described in details the experiments that the organization forced upon their subjects and one of them was loss of memory. She never asked about it, but she was sure that K' had endured some of those atrocities, it would explain why he was so detached and wary of people.

"Not really, not even my fucking name. The only piece of memory I have before they took me is Seirah…telling me to remain strong until we meet again" even though he knew he shouldn't talk about something so personal with someone he barely knew it felt so good to finally say it out loud instead of repressing it.

"And you did" she said looking at him in the eye, noticing for the first time that they were grey. He looked away letting out a sigh.

"I guess"

They stayed in silence until she finally said what she had in mind the whole night.

"Good thing you didn't bring those glasses, it would have been really tasteless" he raised his eyebrows and chuckled without desire "I actually thought you had eye bags and you wanted to hide them."

"You're the one to talk about taste? You have no social skills, you scare people" he wondered if he had crossed the line but there was no reaction from her "I don't have no fucking eye bags...even though I sleep badly" he said the last sentence under his breath but this time she was close enough to hear it.

"Bad dreaming?" She said without really making it sound like a question but an affirmation. That took K' out of guard, he nodded "It happens to me every night. Sometimes I dream with my dad."

K' processed the words she was saying and how she said them: effortless, as if reading a buying list. He had heard some stories about her and the Riot of Blood because of her Orochi heritage.

He never witnessed it himself but he had heard some fighters describing it like 'the flick of a switch'. The color of the subject in question changes its color, and the person transforms into an unrecognizable blood thirsty monster with no conscience. Some rumors said that she had killed her whole family and village and then wandered through the jungle till Heidern ran into her by destiny's coincidence. He tried to picture it, a crying little girl covered in her family's blood with no home to go to nor nothing she could do to change it. It reminded him of himself when NESTS had captured him for their experiments. He was just a boy…with no family, no home to go to, and with nothing he could do to change it. Just children abandoned to their own shitty luck.

"Sometimes I wish I could erase some thoughts off my head" she said with a tired voice trying to hide her resignation.

K' looked at his glass and then towards the city, she was right, the night was certainly splendid. He let out a quiet laugh while he looked at her confused expression. Did he really had to explain it?

K' stared at the distant lights holding his cup like his life depended of it, and exhaled.

"It's just tragicomical. Lost memories, memories you want to lose…" he looked at his drink again but this time slightly frowning "the world just never goes our way, uh?"

To surprise of both, Leona smiled amused. K' looked at her and felt it was…breathtaking, like watching a butterfly you avoid to disturb because you want to watch it a little bit longer before it takes flight. He snapped out of it and brushed the thoughts out of his head.

"That dress looks awful" he said dryly. _"Idiot"._

"It feels awful as well" she answered taking no offense. Leona looked at the buildings, if she didn't ask now she never would. She took a deep breath "I want to ask you a favor, I think that I'll be able to develop my hydrokinesis better with your help."

K' glanced at her glad for the change of focus in the conversation but puzzled at the same time. Since there was nothing he mastered besides fighting and the art of being a professional asshole people didn't usually asked for his help. But either way he didn't have any tips for her, he wasn't even able to control his fire without his special glove.

"You should ask Kula, ice is water essentially" said the boy while scratching his temple, he had the habit of accommodate his sunglasses when he was nervous but obviously he didn't have them. They were 'tasteless'.

"Ice won't help, is just like you said. I need to get to the limit where I have no other choice but to generate water" she looked at her hands on the handrail and then looked at him with her serious aura "And what urges water more than fire."

K' stared at his shoes, she was right. Would he really say yes? That meant getting up early and get out of the house to be around all of those dumb-faced bulky gorillas, and actually break a sweat without gaining nothing out of it. But deep down at his core he knew that he had already made the decision without really knowing why, in the same way he was a hot-head he was also impulsive.

He clenched his teeth acting as if he was considering the proposal.

He answered with his characteristic irritated voice and his mean look as he proceeded to drink the whiskey in his hand.

"Okay, I'll spar with you and kick your ass until you learn something. Just don't make me waste my time."

"Thank you" she said politely and poker-faced repressing a smile.

"You know, you…could have asked Kusanagi" said K' with his signature scowl thinking she would agree and change her mind, but Leona shook her head.

"A cocky yet quiet jerk is better than a cocky loud one."

K' frowned and stared at her, she stared back somber. They made eye contact for some seconds until quietly they started to laugh. All of a sudden K' realized that if spending time with her would be like this he didn't mind sparring with her for as long as she wanted.

They stood silently besides one another admiring the thousands shiny white dots in the black canvas. Opposite's poles of the same nature, different sides of the same coin, fire and water. Neither of them liked to waste their time with useless words, and anyways…there was nothing else that needed to be said.

* * *

**I wrote this fic on ao3 like two years ago and since i'm rather proud of it I thought I may as well post it here** :)

**I hope you enjoyed it!**


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